burst

Hello I got covid for a week and during my lonely hours I made a HUGE AUDIO DRAMA QUIZ! PLEASE LET ME REC YOU SOME PODCASTS!!

Sacred Crime from Antigone: The Musical

Thank you all for your patience, it's a few months but I'm finally back with a new 5 underrated! Comedy was never my thing growing up, but as it turns out there's actually plenty in the audio medium that are to my taste. You may've already heard the more popular ones such as Wooden Overcoats or The Amelia Project (which, add them to your list if you've not heard, they're very fun), but here's 5 lesser known comedy podcasts that deserve just as much appreciation.

Up to date as of 15th October 2021

Burst

"Starting your own business is tricky at the best of times, but when you’re the owner of a bubble tea shop on a space station - with a communist as your financial advisor and an alien as a head chef, not to mention the universe’s biggest ethically-questionable coffee-shop conglomerate has it in for you- it’s a real adventure."

Burst is a lighter-hearted podcast with a really fun cast and a strong wacky, queer, anticapitalist vibe, as well as some interesting worldbuilding. The audio quality is admittedly rough, but if a short slice-of-life space bubble-tea shop sounds your thing (I'd be surprised if it didn't) I'd heartily encourage you to give it a go. Burst has finished with 20 episodes of 10-15 minutes each.

Burst is available on major podcasting platforms and on Spotify. Content warnings are listed in each episode description, and transcripts are available on their tumblr. You can follow their tumblr at @burstpodcast

Elaine's Cooking for the Soul

"ELAINE'S COOKING FOR THE SOUL is a post-apocalyptic cooking podcast. This sci-fi comedy series is hosted by Elaine Martínez, DDS, in her dental clinic. Each week she brings on a guest to cook up a shelf-stable, nutrient-dense recipe to share with the survivors of the recent nuclear event. The recipes are real, the world is fictional...for now."

A post-apocalyptic dystopian cooking show hosted by a dentist from her office! While potentially a little depressing if dystopian flavour isn't your thing, I've found it really fun, and the recipes are all stuff that's easy to make at home with long-lasting, cheap ingredients. Wacky concept with good execution. 13 episodes of 17-21 mins each.

Elaine's Cooking for the Soul is available on major podcasting platforms and on Spotify. Content warnings are available in each episode description, and transcripts of the first 5 episodes are available on their tumblr. You can follow their tumblr at @elainescookingforthesoul

Life With Althaar

"An epic science-fiction sitcom for your ears about an unlikely human/alien friendship in the unluckiest place in Human space. It is the mid-26th Century. John B, a humble repairman and "former human" (having lost his legal status as such), has left the Earth for mysterious reasons. He is perhaps the unluckiest being in Human space.

He has wound up at the Human Exchange Concourse, or the "HEC," once the site of Humanity's First Galactic Fair. It was the biggest flop in Human history. "The Fairgrounds" is perhaps the unluckiest place in Human space. You don't go there, you end up there. John's luck seems to have changed when he gets a good apartment at an amazingly reasonable price only to find his roommate is Althaar, an Iltorian, who is determined to befriend a Human. (Iltorians are the kindest, nicest species in all known space, and natural diplomats, beloved by almost all, but their slightest presence causes Humans to instinctively respond with panic, fear, disgust, nausea, and loss of bodily functions).

Can a Human and Iltorian live together without one of them driving the other crazy?"

A sci-fi comedy podcast which constantly impresses me. A human handyman moves to a haphazard station on the boundries of human space and winds up with a really sweet alien room-mate named Althaar, who's a young diplomat fascinated by humans and human culture. Only problem is Althaar is an Iltorian, a species that humans instincively fear on sight, on a visceral and primal level, by no fault to either party. Really well made, full cast, original music features, great original worldbuilding, fully sound-scaped binaural content, and subtley quite queer. Made all the more impressive by the movie-length episodes, I have no idea how this cast manages it, and so regular as well. Ongoing but on the last season. 33 episodes (plus one musical episode) of 53 minutes to 3 hours and 3 mins in length, usually between 1½ and 2½ hours.

Life with Althaar is available on major podcasting platforms and on Spotify. Content warnings are not given, but transcripts are linked in each episode description. You can also follow their tumblr at @geminicollisionworks

The Vanishing Act

"The Vanishing Act is globetrotting farce about a German magic enthusiast, an American conman in Paris, an unfortunately-named engineer, a disappearing French magician, and a duck. A Rambling Absurdity in 12(ish) Parts."

Set around the 1930s, following a German playwright's obsession with the final trick of a 200-year-dead french magician. Given me by far the most laughs of any podcast I've heard. Surprisingly queer and the gender- and accent-disregarding casting really adds to the whole effect of it. Between seasons. 12 episodes of 33-61 mins in length.

The Vanishing Act is available on major podcasting platforms and on Spotify. Content warnings are listed in each episode description, and transcripts are linked in each episode description. You can also follow their tumblr at @vanishingpod

Wizard Seeking Wizard

"A Wizard Dating Podcast"

A dating show for Wizards!!! Wacky wizards (of all genders, or none) send in personal bios, all written by their VAs, to tell the audience about the character and what sort of relationship they are looking for. There's romance, magic collabs, rivalries, and the audience votes to see who goes on the wizard date the next episode. It's queer, it's cute, it's funny, and it's really unique. Currently on hiatus, it has 9 episodes of 28-59 minutes each, usually around 45 minutes.

Wizard Seeking Wizard is available on major podcasting platforms and on Spotify. Content warnings are listed in each episode description, and transcripts are linked in each episode description. You can also follow their tumblr at @wiz4wiz

Want more good audio content?

5 Criminally Underrated Sci-Fi Podcasts

5 Underrated Weird Fiction Podcasts

5 Extremely Underrated Supernatural Podcasts

5 Underrated Sci-Fi Horror Podcasts

feel free to ask any questions about any of em theyre all great

wolf 359 @personalinsanitymoment

eos 10 @justinmclachlan

the strange case of starship iris @procyon-podcast-network

the bright sessions @thebrightsessions

the two princes

the adventures of sir rodney the root @this-is-lena-winter

time:bombs @personalinsanitymoment

heroics @justinmclachlan

36 questions

under pressure @procyon-podcast-network

girl in space @girlinspacepodcast

moonbase theta out @monkeymanproductions

the pilgrimage saga @turpentineproductions

kaleidotrope @kaleidotropepodcast

inkwyrm @inkwyrmpodcastt

burst! @burstpodcast

life with leo(h)

the penumbra podcast @thepenumbrapodcast

Light Hearts

A podcast about a cafe haunted by ghosts.

Bee and PuppyCat

This web series is about an animal who helps a young lady take on part-time jobs in space. It’s a very whimsical and cute show. Available on YouTube (pilot episodes here and the rest of the series here).

Coffee Talk

This is a slow-moving, low-stress video game where you play as a barista in a fantasy version of Seattle. You don’t control a story, you just experience it.

Spiritfarer

Very late to the party, but I finally finished Burst season 2.

This was a good season! I really loved the concepts and themes brought up in this podcast, and the finale was weighty and emotional. The humor was brilliant, as always.

I can tell you I definitely did not have “Ben and Zimri smuggle a baby” on my list of expectations! It’s also a pretty cool coincidence that I finished this season right as Disability Pride Month was starting in the US. :)

Discreet Pride Tapestry // devindrawsdepot

x // x // x